


Felis Cornibus

by misc



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: Animals, Cat, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-18
Updated: 2014-06-18
Packaged: 2018-02-05 03:58:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1804465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misc/pseuds/misc
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>otherwise known as that time bones nursed a cat back to health</p>
            </blockquote>





	Felis Cornibus

Doctor McCoy was angry. He had been working beside Captain Kirk on the USS Enterprise for years, and he still didn’t understand exactly why he was required to beam down to strange planets to document life forms. To him, it seemed like a job better left to Spock, or some nameless yeoman. He shivered as he materialized and a heavy gust of gritty wind blew through him. A couple of feet away, the Captain was calling for life form readings. They were on a newly discovered planet, temporarily named Alfa 1872, investigating, checking for recourses and documenting new life forms. Obviously a perfect job for a CMO, the doctor thought with a grim smirk as he walked towards his friend. Spock was reading his tricorder, announcing to the party that there was an abundance of wildlife in the brush around the party, though most of it was small and probably harmless.

“Alright, lets break into groups. Spock, you go with Lieutenant Kolinski and record all of the animals you encounter. Bones, you take two yeomen and scan for recourses. The rest of you come with me. Beam in here in two hours.”

With two bright-eyed kids behind him, the disgruntled doctor took off northwest, from where he had already picked up trace amounts of Ryetalyn and Duranium. As he and the yeomen gathered topsoil and samples from strange plants for further investigation back in his lab, McCoy finally shook himself from his slump. Pale blue sap from rubbery trees and feather-like orange flowers filled the mind with new possibilities for drugs and cures. It had been years since he had such a vast amount of new material, and he was itching to get back to his lab. The doctor was carefully pushing himself further into a patch of shimmering bushes to recover a clump of round purple berries, when his thoughts were interrupted with a sharp, painful cry. He stopped short, listening. When the noise was not repeated, he called to his yeomen, both of whom immediately called back from nearby. Then the cry came again, painful and drawn-out. He turned around quickly, parting the bushes aside with his gloved hands. There, lying on a bed of trampled grass lay a small creature. It was similar to a house cat in size and appearance, but had two short ivory horns curling out from the dirty fur behind its pointy ears. Red blood was steadily oozing from a gash traveling the length of it’s left hind leg. A gasp escaped the doctor’s mouth as he crouched down beside the animal. Weakly, it bared its impressive fangs and hissed, batting a paw at the doctors hard as he tentatively reached towards the injury. He drew back his hand, peeled off his gloves and flipped open his communicator.

“Spock?”

“Yes, Doctor?” The reply was almost instantaneous.

“I found an injured creature in the bushes over here, has your team encountered an animal that looks like a house cat with horns?”

“ _Felis Cornibus_.” Spock responded, seeming to think this was a sufficient answer.

“Yeah… what have you learned about them?”

“They subsist on a diet composed of small animals and fish, and though they are predatory, they seem in most ways harmless.”

“So what, they’re basically just house cats?”

“They do bare many similarities to _Felis Catus_ , but it is unwise to make any further assumptions.” The Vulcan responded. “Is that all?”

“Yes. See you later.” McCoy responded absently, bending down again. Slowly, aware of the cat’s purple eyes on him, he drew a sheet meant for bandages from his bag and moved forward. “I’m not going to hurt you.” He whispered. “I want to help” As he pulled on a fresh pair of gloves, he moved a hand slowly toward the creature. It’s nostrils flared as is inhaled the new scents, but this time it stayed still, allowing the doctor to move until he could stroke the soft but dirty fur on the top of it’s head. He broke into a grin as the weak cat tilted his head towards his hand. Slowly, he picked up the sheet and draped it across the matted fur on the cat’s back. It continued to lie still from trust, exhaustion or a mix of the two. Carefully, slowly, the doctor picked the cat up, injured leg and all. It let out a pitiful noise and the doctor bit his lip in concern. The two yeomen were walking towards him, both with packs stuffed with samples of useful elements and unknown flora.

“What is that?” One of them asked, a new scientist with short hair and a young face. Her voice had a tone of carefully suppressed nerves.

“It’s a cat. Or something like a cat. The poor thing has a bad cut on her hind leg; I want to see if I can patch it up.”

The two yeomen exchanged a look, as if they were questioning the sanity of their superior. The girl shrugged and her companion, a man with reddish-blond hair smiled in a knowing way. Before they could speak up, the doctor’s communicator chirped, and his subordinates looked on in bemusement as he carefully balanced the cat on one arm while his free hand answered the call.

“Bones, it’s time to beam up. Where are you?” Kirk spoke first, without waiting for an acknowledgement of any sort.

With a sigh, the doctor checked his location and read the coordinates to his captain as the three prepared to beam up with his latest patient in tow.

When they reached the transport room, Mr. Scott directed them to where the rest of the team was waiting to discuss findings, giving the stirring mass in the doctor’s arms no more than a glance. The three set down the halls until they reached the conference room where the captain and second in command were waiting. Quietly he told the yeomen to bring their samples to the science labs and begin any experiments they had planned. Then he entered.

“Ah, doctor. Good of you to show up.” Kirk said cheerfully as the door slid open. His cheerful smirk slid off his face when he saw the _Felis Cornibus_. “What is… that?”

“It’s a cat, and it’s injured. If I had left it there, it would have died. I’m going to try and patch it up.” His statement was met with blank stares. Spock raised an eyebrow. “It could provide serious insight into the lives of the creatures on Alfa 1872.”

“Doctor, that was extremely foolish, even by your standards. You have no idea what the temperament of the animal is, and whether or not it carries any foreign diseases.” Spock’s voice was cool, and he regarded the cat, which had poked its face out from over the sheet, with an expression that the doctor would call discomfort if it came from anyone besides the science officer. He scowled darkly at the Vulcan, knowing that he was probably right but unwaveringly stubborn in his ability to ignore that. Before he could retort, the captain spoke up again.

“Oh, come off it Spock. Let the doctor carry out his experiment. Just know, Bones,” he continued, turning to his friend, “that cat is entirely your responsibility. You will be fully accountable for that happens because of it, understood?” McCoy nodded, refusing to let he acknowledge the weight of that statement.

•º•º•º•º•º•º•º•º•º•º•

Back in the comfort of his medical bay, the doctor ignored the questioning look from Nurse Chapel and pulled a privacy curtain around a bed. Gently he set down his prize and untangled it from the sheet. It lay still, panting softly. Slowly, it turned its luminous purple eyes towards the doctor and let out a noise that could only be described as a meow. McCoy grinned in spite of himself and gave the cat another rub across its forehead. He knew that he needed to test the cat’s blood for toxins and disease, and then get the wound and the rest of the body clean and ready for dressing. “Christine, bring me a hypospray, please.” He called as he gently began to examine the body. The fur was matted and laden with dirt, but the skin looked clean and healthy, gently he ran his fingers across the three sound limbs and the stomach checking for other inflammations. Then, he quickly scanned the creature, but the trycorder presented no disease or malady. Everything seemed to be in order, but fresh blood had started to run from the original cut. Chapel pushed aside the curtain and let out a gasp when she saw the creature resting on the biobed.

“Is that a cat?” She asked softly, voice heavy with confused disbelief

“ _Felis Cornibus_. Yeah, it’s basically a cat, but it has horns. I found it down on that planet. Its left leg has a deep laceration and I couldn’t live with myself if I left it there to die.” The nurse nodded slowly, still clearly baffled, and handed the doctor the hypo spray. Quickly, he pushed it against the cat’s neck and the two watched as the inside filled with a small sample of blood, which he handed back to the nurse. “Run this through a scan, please, and report to me any abnormalities. I’m going to try and clean this cat up.” Chapel took the blood sample and left without saying a word. McCoy always appreciated that about her.

Alone again, he returned his attention to the task ahead of him. He had a cat as a kid, and knew that they weren’t the most fond of baths. He had to get the thing clean, though, before he could safely preform any sort of procedure. He rifled through his medical bag until he found a small sharp comb, technically meant for removing ticks and other parasitical creatures from skin. Starting with the back, he slowly worked the comb through the tangled fur, removing knots and clumps of dirt with gentle skill. The cat cried out a few times but eventually fell silent, seeming to succumb to the unwavering hands of Doctor McCoy. When the back and neck were as clean as he could get them, he returned his attention to the wound. The fur around it was matted with blood and dirt, and he knew the act of cleaning it would cause the creature considerable pain that it wouldn’t understand. He started far away, using a sterile cleaning towel and the comb, washing away the blood and pushing the fur away. Every now and then the cat would twist its head in attempt to nip at the hands of the doctor, but he worked resiliently for what seemed like an hour until the blood was mostly gone from the surrounding areas. Before McCoy could begin the bandaging, Chapel appeared around the corner again, holding a PADD.

“I have the readings from the blood sample.” She said. “I don’t know what exactly is normal for this little guy, but no known diseases or toxins are present in the blood. I worked with some of the new substances you recovered as well; nothing seems irregular.” As if in response, the cat turned his head and meowed again.

Chapel smiled and laughed softly. “He sure is sweet. Have you named him?”

“It’s a girl, actually, and I haven’t. Do you think I should?”

“I don’t know. I feel like you can’t call her ‘it’ forever, but that’s just me. How is she doing?”

“She seems fine, I just have to bandage up the leg and I think it will heal right up.”

“Well, let me know if you need anything.”

He nodded, returning his attention to his work. From his bag, he retrieved a small vial of sterilizing solution. Wincing, he uncapped it, knowing how badly it would sting the poor critter. Before he could rethink it, he dripped the solution down the length of the cut. The cat cried out, and tried to stand up, but fell back. McCoy winced again, and stroked her head in what he hoped was a soothing way until she quieted down. Now that it was clean, he bent very for a closer look. The leg had been cut no more then a day ago, since pus and scabs were already present. It was jagged and messy, which he could only assume was the result of a predatory attack. The doctor made a mental note to ask Spock about what large carnivorous animals shared Alfa 1872 with _Felis Cornibus_. Before anything, he had to stop any further bleeding, so he grabbed a gauze wrap and deftly bound the leg. “There, all done.” He said and the cat looked up at him. He smiled brightly again, and carefully helped the cat rise unsteadily to her feet and take a few limping steps. McCoy chucked at the sight and the cat meowed again, turning shakily to rub her head on the doctor’s arm. Her throat rumbled with a soft purr and McCoy laughed again, stroking the cat’s face with the tip of his finger. However, without his arm to support her, the cat’s legs quickly gave in and she laid down again. Biting his lip, McCoy wondered how and if he could get some painkillers or antibacterial medicine into this cat’s system. What did Spock say that she would eat? Fish and small animals. He walked to the medical bay’s small replicator and programed in the code for plain cooked halibut, which he reckoned was as good of a bet as any. He set the steaming plate down in front of the cat, to which she gave two sniffs and immediately ignored. He sighed, tossed it down a trash shoot and tried again. This time he returned with chicken, and this time the cat ate eagerly, in big mouthfuls. Before it all disappeared, he quickly dropped some liquid medicines across the meat. She didn’t stop eating until the plate was empty and then sat back awkwardly, running a paw over her whiskers

He drew back the privacy curtain and carefully lifted his new friend down onto the floor, whereupon she began to stalk around, tail twitching from the excitement of a new environment. Though she was not putting any weight on her bandaged leg, she walked with only the slightest limp as she sniffed around the medical equipment.

“Now, come here you.” He smiled, lifting the cat back into his arms “It’s not safe or sanitary for you to be wandering around in the medical bay. I’m going to take you back to my room. You can poke around there.” Ordering a nurse to change the sheets on the bed, he left the sickbay.

Back in his room, he set the cat down on the floor, where she sat down and promptly began licking herself clean. Once again free to roam, the cat began to sniff around. McCoy watched, smiling without noticing, as the cat twitched and leapt unsteadily on to his table, knocking roughly into a bottle of brandy.  
“Whoa, careful with that leg.” He said, quickly jumping forward to keep both the cat and the precious alcohol from falling. As it purred with fresh fervor, he watched with a new rush of happiness as it rubbed it’s delicate horns against the bottle. Beside himself, he mentally gave the cat its name.

 

•º•º•º•º•º•º•º•º•º•º•

The cat had made herself a bed on McCoy’s chair, and was resting there when there was a knock at the door. Calling for the visitor to come in, McCoy put down the data he had been analyzing and stood up. On the other side stood the captain. His eyes settled immediately on the sleeping creature.

“You’re really going to keep that, huh?” He asked slowly

“Yeah, I think so. She’s one of the friendliest things I’ve ever encountered.”

“Really?” Kirk laughed

“What’s so damn funny?”

“I don… I just never pictured you as a cat person. You’ve always seemed too…” He trailed of, shaking his head with a smile still spreading across his face.

“Too what?”

“Grumpy.” He shruged

“I am not grumpy. If it seems that way, it’s only because I have to deal with people like you all day.”

Kirk just laughed again. “Can I pet it?”

“It’s a girl.”

“Fine, then can I pet her?”

“I don’t care what you do.”

Crouching down, Kirk gently stroked his palm down the length of the cat’s back, and then moved to scratch her under her chin. Eyes still closed, she stretched her head towards her visitor with a quiet noise of contentment. “Did you give her a name yet?”

“Yeah, I was thinking of calling her… uh, Brandy.”

“Brandy? Really? Well I can’t say I’m surprised.”

“When she came in here the first thing she did was tip over that bottle, and look, her fur is the exact same color.” He shoved the real brandy in his friends face.

“Yeah, you have a point. It’s kind of sweet.” The doctor frowned at the prospect of being called sweet, but Kirk was too busy playing with the cat to notice. “She cleaned up nice. Is her leg going to be okay?”

“I’m almost positive it will. It bandaged up well, so as long as it doesn’t get infected she should be fine.”

“Well, she has the best doctor a cat could hope for.” Kirk replied. “Don’t you? Yes…” His voice took on an annoyingly syrupy tone as he addressed Brandy personally, and the Doctor smirked.

“All right Jim, you can play with the cat later. I have work to do, and don’t you have a job around here too? Captain or something?”

“Yeah, yeah, I hear you. Just promise me you’ll have all your reports on the resources of that planet ready for Starfleet Command within the next two days.”

“I’d have them ready before that it you would stop pestering me.”

“Alright, I’m going.” He laughed again, giving Brandy a final pat and turning to leave.

•º•º•º•º•º•º•º•º•º•º•

By the time the bandages came off for good, Brandy had become a beloved figure on board the Enterprise. None of the crew had ever seen anything like her, but almost every one was ready with treats and homemade toys whenever she walked into a room. When Doctor McCoy wasn’t working in medical, she followed him around like a brave protector, tail held high. Though he would never let anyone know it, Brandy the _Felis Cornibus_ had become the best part of the doctor’s day. He took great pride in meticulously keeping her clean and well feed even after she was fully healed. Though skeptical at first, even Spock had eventually succumbed to Brandy’s impeccable charm. The first time Brandy hopped into his lap and batted his hand with her head, McCoy swears he saw Spock blush the palest shade of green as he slowly stroked the soft delicate fur between Brandy’s stately curved horns. And with that, she was fully accepted. By day she roamed the halls of the enterprise, winning over the hearts of the engineers as she deftly stalked and killed a small colony of tribbles that had some how took up residence within one of the maintenance shafts. But every night, without fail, she returned to Doctor McCoy’s room to curl up on her favorite chair, on top of one of her owner’s old shirts, to lull the once insomniac doctor to sleep with her near constant purring.

**Author's Note:**

> p.s. i did actual research on the scientific names of various animals to come up with the name Felis Cornibus so yeah be impressed


End file.
